Improvement in window-cleaners



Pat ente d Sep. 19,1871.

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PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE SMEATON, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN WINDOW-CLEANERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 119,055, dated September 19, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE SMEATON, a native and subject of Great Britain, at present residing in the eastern district of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Apparatus for Cleaning Windows; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification.

The object of this invention is to provide for cleaning the exteriors of windows fromthe inside. To this end it consists in a frame of novel construction and in the arrangementthereon of cleaners or polishers, and also in the manner of operating said cleaners or polishers.

' 1n the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan, on an enlarged scale, of the upright portion of the frame and the cleaners or polishers, and Fig. 4 is a front view of the cleaners or polishers and a portion of the upright on the same scale.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

The frame of the apparatus consists of a base, A, and an upright,B, which are hinged together at t so asto be capable of being folded up or adjusted at any angle relatively to each other. The

' said base has a central grooved or channeled stem,

0, that extends through and some way beyond it, and the end of which is formed into a handle, a, by which the apparatus is held. Supported in bearings near the end of this central stem .0 is a large pulley, D, which is operated by a crank, b, and around which the operating-cord E passes, said cord also passing under a small guide-pulley, 0, just behind the said pulleyl) thence along the groove or channel in the stem 0 under two pulleys, d d, that are fitted to turn freely side by side on the same pin, which formsthe pivot of the hinge or hinges t t,- thence over a pulley, 0, near the top of the upright B, its ends being connected one with theiupper part and the other with the lower part of a carriage, F, on which the cleaners or polishers G G are arranged. This carriage F is arranged to slide up and down on the upright B, on the front edges of the sides of which there are overhangingflanges or ribs f f, and its sides are thereby made to constitute tracks on which wheels H H run. The said carriage has a tongue formed on its inner side to fit a groove or channel in the face of the upright B, and near the upper end there projects from its outer side a sponge-holder, P, consisting of a straight stem, S, having at its end a cap-like receptacle for the sponge, which is secured in place by a rubber spring or band, h, looped over a pin, 9, inserted through the said stem. On each side of the carriage there is alug, i, which is bent at right angles to its face and has formed in it a slot for the reception of the lug I provided on one of two boxes, I I, which contain the bearings for the shafts U U of the clean ers G G. Between these lugs 01 i there are on the carriage other lugs jj, having central holes or bearings, forming guides to pins 0 0 on the ends of the lugs Z Z on the boxes I I. The cleaners or polishers consist of plates having bunches of rags or chamois leather attached to them, and being themselves secured to the shafts U U, to which the wheels H H are also secured. The boxes I I are connected by a rubber spring, J, secured to pins 1) p projecting from the lugs l l, and are thereby drawn toward each other, and cause the wheels to bear on the tracks on the upright B with sufficient friction to rotate them and their attached cleaners or polishersin the up-and down movement of the carriage F. The base A of the frame has pivoted to it a brace, L, which is notched at its outer end to fit a screw, m, on the upright B; said screw being provided with a nut, 11., by which the end of the brace is clamped and secured.

The window to be cleaned is first opened and the frame of the cleaning apparatus passed through it, so that its base rests on the sill thereof. The upright is then adjusted and secured by its brace, so that the cleaners or polishers on it bear against the outside of the window and the stem and handle project within the room of which the window forms a part; the window or sash thereof is then shut down on the base and the crank b is then turned to rotate the Wheel D, which winds up one end of the cord E and unwinds the other, thereby moving the carriage F up and down the upright B and causing the sponge, which is previously wetted with water or any suitable cleaning or polishin g preparation,

to wash or clean or apply the cleaning or polish ing preparation to the window; and the wheels H H in the mean time running on the tracks on the sides of the upright are thereby caused to rotate and produce the rotation of the cleaners or polishers which rub and polish the window. The upright B can be adjusted to any angle relatively to the base A for slanting windows. To make the rotation of the cleaners or polishers more certain, racks and pinions may be substituted for the tracks and wheels H H. Instead of the wheel D a slide may be used, to which the cord will be secured, and which will be slid forward and backward on the stem 0 to operate the carriage and its cleaners or polishers.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of the frame, composed of 

